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The Republic of Guinea is located on the Atlantic Coast of
west West_Africa and borders Senegal, Mali, Cote D’ivoire,
Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea Bissau.
The country has a
population of about 10 million and a land area of 245,860
square km, which is slightly smaller than Oregon. In the past
decade,
warfare in nearby countries forced more than 1 million refugees
to flee to Guinea. Food shortages, lack of clean water and disease are prevalent
throughout the country. Health conditions in Guinea are among
the poorest in the world as people remain at high risk for
waterborne, respiratory and sexually transmitted diseases.
The most common illnesses include cholera, malaria, typhoid
fever and AIDS. In rural and urban areas, lack of clean potable
water and poor sanitation are the primary causes of parasitic
and endemic diseases. Children are especially vulnerable
while medicine is in short supply.
The government has worked to improve the country's health
care system, but the process has been slow due to limited resources
and an overwhelming demand for medical services.
A staggering
amount of the population does not have access to hospitals
in urban areas. Along with little or no access to health
care, Guinea's rural population is largely illiterate. This,
too,
has made it difficult to reach people in these communities.
Source: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
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